Wesdome Announces Exploration Drilling At The Eagle River Mine Extends High Grade At Falcon 7 Zone Adjacent To Mine Workings

TORONTO, Sept. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX: WDO) (“Wesdome” or the “Company”) today announces results from the ongoing underground exploration drilling program at the Company’s wholly-owned Eagle River Mine in Wawa, Ontario.

Although exploration drilling is currently operating at a reduced capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions, three underground drills and one surface drill are in operation. One drill continues to better define and extend the down plunge extension of the Falcon 7 Zone. The Falcon 7 Zone was originally discovered from surface drilling located in volcanic rocks approximately 200 metres (“m”) west of the mine diorite (see press release dated June 6, 2019). It is interpreted that the Falcon 7 Zone now extends from surface down a steep easterly plunge approximately 1,000 m and is part of the up plunge extension of the 7 Zone currently being mined near the 1,000 m elevation.

The current drilling is focused near a previous hole that returned 314 g/t Au over 6.0 m (see press release dated July 8, 2019). This drilling was completed from the 772 m elevation that was established to test the down plunge extension of the Falcon Zone. Since that time, additional mine development has been completed on 622 m elevation to allow for drilling, and is now within 50 m in the footwall of the Falcon 7 Zone.

Highlights of the recent drilling are listed below and summarized in Table 1.

• Hole 622-E-02: 51.3 g/t Au over 1.8 m core length (38.2 g/t Au cut, 1.5 m true width)
• Hole 622-E-11: 18.6 g/t Au over 12.5 m core length (18.4 g/t Au cut, 8.0 m true width)
• Hole 622-E-12: 56.8 g/t Au over 1.8 m core length (42.9 g/t Au cut, 1.5 m true width)

Assays capped at 125 g/t Au. True widths are estimated.

Mr. Duncan Middlemiss, President and CEO commented, "We continue to be pleased with our ongoing exploration drilling of the Falcon 7 Zone that continues to return high grades. With nearby development already established on the 772 and 622 m elevations, it is becoming more apparent that these zones will have the potential to be included in future mine production and ultimately augmenting production rates in the medium term. We expect to define mineral resources and reserves from the Falcon 7 Zone that will be released as part of our end of year resource and reserve statement. Additional drilling in this area continues to be a priority for the remainder of 2020.”

“We have also commenced our surface fly drilling program with one drill in operation to test regional exploration targets.”

TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE

For underground drilling, the sampling of, and assay data from, underground drill core is monitored through the implementation of a quality assurance - quality control (QA-QC) program designed to follow industry best practice. Samples are transported in sealed bags to Eagle River Mine assay office in Wawa, Ontario. Samples are analyzed for gold using standard fire assay technique with gravimetric finish. Wesdome mine inserts blanks in the sample sequence and certified reference standards are inserted by the laboratory for quality control.

The technical content of this release has been compiled, reviewed and approved by Michael Michaud, P.Geo., Vice President, Exploration of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 -Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT WESDOME

Wesdome Gold Mines is in its 30^th year of continuous gold mining operations in Canada. The Company is 100% Canadian focused with a pipeline of projects in various stages of development. The Eagle River Complex in Wawa, Ontario is currently producing gold from two mines, the Eagle River Underground Mine and the Mishi Open pit, from a central mill. Wesdome is actively exploring its brownfields asset, the Kiena Complex in Val d’Or, Quebec. The Kiena Complex is a fully permitted former mine with a 930 metre shaft and 2,000 tonne per day mill. The Company has further upside at its Moss Lake gold deposit, located 100 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is being explored and evaluated to be developed in the appropriate gold price environment. The Company has approximately 138.0 million shares issued and outstanding and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “WDO.”

This news release contains “forward-looking information” which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of the Company and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances, management’s estimates or opinions should change, except as required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company has included in this news release certain non-IFRS performance measures, including, but not limited to, mine operating profit, mining and processing costs and cash costs. Cash costs per ounce reflect actual mine operating costs incurred during the fiscal period divided by the number of ounces produced. These measures are not defined under IFRS and therefore should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to or more meaningful than, net income (loss) or cash flow from operating activities as determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of our financial performance or liquidity. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow

Table 1: Drilling Composites – Falcon/7 Zone

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at

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